You can scour the Caribbean and still not find a more spectacularly beautiful collection of beaches than the ones on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba. 

At every turn, there’s an exotic, brilliant coastline to choose: the windy wonders of Boca Grandi; the sheer vastness of Eagle Beach; the turquoise calm of Palm Beach. 

Of course, Aruba is more than just sandy beauty: there’s the thrilling art scene in San Nicolas; a quietly booming culinary movement at gourmet hotspots like Chef Erwin Husken’s Screaming Eagle; a marvelously transformed downtown in the now-bustling hub of Oranjestad. 

Aruba is dynamic, it’s fresh and it’s, plainly, it’s a rather wonderful Caribbean destination. 

No matter where you are right now, with everything that’s going on, everyone is dreaming about a Caribbean vacation, and the latest edition of Caribbean Moment does just that, bringing Aruba right to you. 

See the latest Caribbean Moment below:

Have you been to Aruba? How many times? What’s your favorite spot on the island? Let us know at news@caribjournal.com. 

— CJ

The post Caribbean Moment: A Digital Vacation to Aruba appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

It’s a time of great uncertainty for the global travel industry, but Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said he has “every confidence that the tourism industry will get back to full strength at some point.”

Of course, it may look different — “devoid of some of its traditional norms and certainly not with a ‘business as usual approach.;”

“As we continue to fight this crisis together, we are reminded that we have been here before and like we overcame in the past, so shall we again,” Bartlett said this week. 

How quickly that happens, he said, depends on Jamaicans’ own ability to “act selflessly and obey precautionary measures on the one hand, while the state and private sector must work collaboratively to deploy resources and lead initiatives to encourage economic resilience as well as to help those who are suffering the greatest.”

Bartlett said he was of the view that the coronavirus pandemic is “easily the game-changer of this millennium.”

“We have to position ourselves to rebound from this global pandemic, which starts with the rebuilding of confidence,” he said. 

— CJ

The post Jamaica Confident Tourism Will Get Back to “Full Strength” appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

If you’ve ever been to the southwestern corner of Saint Lucia, you’ve seen them. You’ve felt them. 

Because the pair of volcanic spires called the Pitons emit some kind of otherworldly energy, a mystical glow, an aura. 

This place, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is truly one of the wonders of the Caribbean, a pair of towering green monuments that are the rare stationary objects you can watch. They do not move, and yet you can’t take your eyes away from them. (They’re even more wonderfully enjoyed from a three-walled suite).

Our latest edition of Caribbean Moment takes you on an aerial journey to this magical place in Saint Lucia, the sort of place whose beauty we can all escape with right now. 

Take a digital vacation to the Pitons of Saint Lucia in the latest CJ Video below:

The post Caribbean Moment: In Saint Lucia, a Journey to the Pitons appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Caribbean hotels showed double-digit performance declines during the weeks ending with March 14 and March 21 2020, according to preliminary weekly data from STR.  

Before we get into the details of that impact, it is important to note that STR is temporarily publishing weekly data for the Caribbean based on preliminary data.

This preliminary data represents a percentage of STR’s total sample for the region. Once monthly processing is complete, data points will likely appear different.

Week ending March 14

During the week of 8-14 March (compared with 10-16 March 2019), occupancy in the region dropped 18.4% to 65.7%, and average daily rate (ADR) fell 20.2% to US$240.9, resulting in a 34.9% decrease in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to US$158.40. 

Among data-sufficient islands within the Caribbean region, the Bahamas saw the steepest year-over-year decline in demand (-19.5%), which resulted in the second-largest decline in occupancy (-19.4% to 70.4%). That coupled with the largest drop in ADR (-25.4% to US$261.19), caused the steepest decline in RevPAR (-39.8% to US$183.75).

Puerto Rico experienced the greatest decline in occupancy (-20.9% to 61.2%) and one of the largest decreases in ADR (-11.3% to US$209.18), which resulted in a substantial drop in RevPAR (-29.9% to US$128.04).

Barbados was among the least affected Caribbean markets but still recorded a double-digit decrease in RevPAR (-14.4% to US$237.22) due to decreases in occupancy (-7.2% to 81.6%) and ADR (-7.8% to US$290.64).

Week ending March 21

During the following week (15-21 March 2020 compared with 17-23 March 2019), the region saw further double-digit declines in each of the three key performance metrics: occupancy (-61.3% to 30.6%), ADR (-29.1% to US$217.34) and RevPAR (-72.6% to US$66.45). 

During that week, the Bahamas experienced the steepest decreases in occupancy (-72.7% to 22.1%) and ADR (-19.5% to US$292.58), which led to the largest decline in RevPAR (-78.0% to US$64.67).

Barbados was one of the only Caribbean markets to maintain an absolute occupancy above 50% and experienced only a relatively mild decline in ADR compared to the rest of the region. Barbados occupancy declined 41.6% to 52.2%; ADR decreased 6.9% to US$293.76; and RevPAR fell 45.6% to US$153.42.

An STR webinar for the Caribbean & Mexico will be held on 3 April.

Rico Louw is client account manager at STR. He can be reached at rlouw@str.com.

The post STR: How Coronavirus Has Impacted Caribbean Hotel Performance appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico